Thursday notes: Nick Castellanos, Tucker Barnhart, Buster Posey

Nick Castellanos

Cincinnati Reds right fielder Nick Castellanos is now a free agent after exercising the opt-out clause of his contract on Thursday.

Castellanos, 30, batted .309/.362/.576 with a career-high 34 home runs, 38 doubles and 100 RBIs in 2021. He had two years and $34 million remaining on the four-year, $64 million contract he signed with Cincinnati before the 2020 season.

The contract had two opt-out clauses in it, but Castellanos decided to stay put after the 2020 season. This offseason, coming off his first All-Star appearance and perhaps the best year of his career, he's deciding to test the market.

Castellanos will be the best available right fielder in free agency this offseason. The White Sox, of course, have a well-documented hole at that position.

Will they bid? They should, but don't hold your breath. The Sox have yet to show a willingness to shop at the top of the market for anything other than relief pitching, so we'll see if they can do anything to quiet that criticism this winter.

Tigers acquire Barnhart

The Detroit Tigers on Wednesday acquired catcher Tucker Barnhart from the Reds in exchange for infield prospect Nick Quintana.

Barnhart, 30, appeared in 97 games for the Reds in 2021, batting .247/.317/.368 with seven home runs and 48 RBIs. However, the veteran catcher is being acquired for his defensive reputation -- Barnhart is a two-time Gold Glove winner (2017, 2020).

Detroit is building its team around a trio of promising young pitchers -- Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning -- and there's really no question the Tigers needed an upgrade behind the plate. Barnhart's experience should help these pitchers in their development.

Are the Tigers, who finished 77-85 and 16 games behind the Sox in 2021, ready to take a step into contention in 2022? It depends on how active they are in free agency. I'm not prepared to call them a threat in the AL Central yet, but it's reasonable to assume they will improve.

Posey retires

Citing a desire to spend more time with family, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey announced his retirement on Thursday.

The decision comes as a bit of a surprise, as the 34-year-old Posey was still playing good baseball, and the Giants were holding a $22 million contract option on him for 2022.

San Francisco won 107 games in 2021, and Posey was an important part of that success. He had his best offensive season in several years, batting .304/.390/.499 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in 113 games.

There's been some debate over whether Posey will eventually be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I would argue in favor of his induction. 

In 12 seasons, he made the All-Star team seven times and won three World Series with the Giants (2010, 2012, 2014). He was the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year and the 2012 NL MVP. He won a batting title, four Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove award. I think that's enough to qualify him.

When the White Sox hit home runs, they win

Yoan Moncada

When the White Sox hit at least one home run in a game, they typically win. When they do not homer, they typically lose.

I guess that makes them typical of baseball in 2021, right?

The Sox are now 30-6 when they hit a home run after they hit four solo shots Thursday in a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Yoan Moncada got the Sox on the board in the bottom of the first inning with his fifth home run of the season. It was a good piece of hitting from Moncada -- Detroit starter Casey Mize (3-4) threw a splitter at the knees on the outside corner, and the Sox third baseman went with the pitch and hit it into the left-field bullpen.

Jake Lamb made it 2-0 in the bottom of the second when he hit a Mize fastball to Goose Island in right field. For Lamb, it was his fourth home run of the season. Lamb is now batting .265 with a .931 OPS. He might be in line for some more playing time against right-handed pitchers.

The Sox took a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning, when Yasmani Grandal connected against Mize for a 457-foot homer to right-center field that left the ballpark traveling at 110 mph. It was Grandal's seventh home run of the season. The Sox catcher continues to have the most bizarre season of any player in baseball. His season slash line is .137/.384/.363. Obviously, Grandal has the lowest batting average of any Sox regular, but he also has the second-highest on-base percentage, behind only Moncada (.426).

Tim Anderson hadn't homered since May 13, but he broke that drought in the bottom of the eighth with a solo shot to dead center off Detroit reliever Daniel Norris. It was Anderson's sixth home run of the season, and that capped the scoring.

For the record, the Sox are 4-16 this season when they do not hit a home run.

The power barrage helped right-hander Lance Lynn improve to 7-1 on the season. Lynn worked six innings, allowing a run on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Relievers Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall and Liam Hendriks each worked a scoreless inning in relief. Hendriks earned his 14th save in 16 chances.

It was good to see Marshall collect two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 eighth inning. The Sox need either Marshall or Codi Heuer to step up in high-leverage relief in the seventh and eighth innings. In this game, Marshall got it done, as he made quick work of the top three hitters in the Detroit batting order.

Heading into Friday's action, the Sox are 34-22 and have a three-game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. Thursday's game was the first of four against Detroit.